| Next edition | 21–22 Apr 2027 · ExCeL London |
|---|---|
| Starting price | £3,950+ |
| Venue | ExCeL London |
| Visitors | 15,000+ |
| Exhibitors | 400+ |
| Duration | 2 days |
| Quote turnaround | 48hr |
Retail Technology Show Stand Builders: ExCeL Logistics, Senior Retail Buyers, and What Wins Demos
The Retail Technology Show is the UK and Europe's flagship event for retail technology, held each April at ExCeL London. It brings around 15,000 visitors together with 400-plus exhibitors, connecting forward-thinking retailers with the tech that runs modern commerce — AI, e-commerce, payments, supply chain, store systems and customer engagement.
The audience is senior and time-poor: decision-makers walking the floor to shortlist suppliers in two days. So the brief is demonstrate plus capture — a stand that shows your product solving a real retail problem, says who it's for in a glance, and turns a busy two days into qualified, booked conversations rather than a stack of cards.
For a vendor that means the stand has to earn a senior buyer's attention in seconds and then hold it long enough to book a real conversation. The people you most want are shortlisting suppliers as they walk, so a stand that demonstrates value clearly is what gets you onto the list.
Building at ExCeL London: the rules that shape your stand
ExCeL is a pillar-free hall with around 10m of clear internal height, but your stand does not get all of it. For space-only stands the working height limit at most ExCeL shows is 6m, and anything ExCeL classes as a complex structure — double-deckers, heavy suspended elements, long unsupported spans — triggers a formal sign-off you need to budget time for, not just money.
Complex designs must be submitted with engineering calculations applying a minimum factor of safety of 1.5. An independent structural engineer reviews the drawings and, if satisfied, issues a Certificate of Structural Adequacy at design stage, which releases your Certificate to Build; the same engineer inspects the stand on site during build-up before you can open. Miss a calculation or submit late and you do not build.
Overhead rigging is controlled tightly: all primary rigging to the ceiling is installed exclusively by ExCeL's own team, ordered through ExCeL's webshop and confirmed around 28 days before tenancy for the advance rate. Lightweight static items hang from drop wires up to 50kg; heavier loads are separate, costlier orders.
The smaller rules catch people out too: platforms above 170mm need ramped, accessible access; solid walls along an open gangway edge are generally not allowed; only water-based paint may be used on site; and every structure must be fully self-supporting. We design to all of this from the first sketch and submit the venue paperwork, so the build you approve is the build that opens.
What a winning retail-tech stand needs
The strongest stands lead with a working demo, not a logo. We position screens and demo stations so a passer-by sees the product in use, state the problem you solve and the retailer you solve it for in one clear line, and build structured lead capture into the flow. A quieter space to take a senior buyer aside earns its place, because the valuable conversations here are not had standing in the aisle.
Practical detail decides whether the demo lands: screens mounted to beat glare in a bright hall, audio that carries without bleeding into the next stand, and power sized with headroom so a floor full of live tech doesn't trip at the busiest moment.
Crowd management is part of the design at 15,000 visitors. A popular demo draws a cluster, so we plan where people gather, watch and queue, so a busy demonstration pulls a crowd toward your stand rather than blocking the aisle or burying your meeting area — a packed demo should feed the rest of the stand, not choke it.
Designing for senior, time-poor buyers
Retail decision-makers scan for relevance and proof, so the stand has to qualify visitors for you — messaging that makes clear which retailers and which problems you serve, so the right people stop and the wrong ones self-select out. We design a clear path from a thirty-second hook to a seated conversation, with a natural handover so a small team spends two days on the right prospects.
We also build in a credibility cue or two — recognisable client logos, a live metric, a real integration on screen — because senior retail buyers discount claims fast and trust proof, and a stand that shows evidence rather than asserting it is taken more seriously in a two-minute conversation.
What a Retail Technology Show stand costs
A turnkey stand typically runs roughly £3,950–£12,500 for a compact custom build, £12,500–£28,000 for a mid-size build with demo space, AV and a meeting area, and £28,000 and up for a flagship island. The quote is turnkey — design, build, AV mounting, lighting, delivery to ExCeL, install, dismantle and the rigging and electrical paperwork are all included — and the AV and bespoke joinery are what move it most.
Given the audience, the spend that pays back is usually in a reliable, well-staged demo and clean finish rather than raw size — a credible working demonstration in front of the right buyer is worth more than a bigger but emptier stand.
Stand sizes and layouts
Stands run from compact spaces for first-time and start-up vendors up to large islands for established platforms. The layout balances demo visibility with meeting capacity: an open island pulls traffic, while a part-enclosed layout protects scheduled conversations. Open sides matter for a two-day show because they multiply the aisles your demo is seen from, so we orient the key screen and entry to the busiest routes.
We also plan the stand so a small commercial team can work it well — a clear point to greet and qualify and a natural handover into a seated demo — so two intense days are spent on the right prospects rather than on managing crowding.
Whatever the size, we build to a finish that reads as credible to a technical buyer, because at a retail-tech show a flimsy-looking stand quietly undermines an otherwise sophisticated product, and the difference between a considered build and a cheap one is obvious to this audience within seconds.
Getting into ExCeL: build-up timing
The show sits in a busy April run at ExCeL, so material-handling, rigging and the electrical contractor book up early and late orders attract surcharges. We confirm your space-only window, order rigging at the advance rate (around 28 days out), coordinate power for live tech with the appointed contractor, and crate to a schedule that lands the stand inside its slot. We keep your orders on file so each year is quicker to schedule.
We design the electrical and data layout around your live tech from the start, since a retail-tech stand depends on reliable power and connectivity that is far cheaper to plan in than to add on site.
Reusing your stand between editions
The show is annual and most vendors return, so we build on a modular core, store it and refresh the graphics and demo configuration for each year's product. That keeps cost down and lets the stand evolve with your roadmap, and we specify finishes that still look sharp on a second outing in front of a discerning audience.
We keep your demo layout, AV plan and contractor orders on file, so the next year's build starts from a known, working setup and the budget goes on refreshing the product story rather than re-solving the stand.
Next step for your Retail Technology Show stand
Send us your space size, hall position and goals for Retail Technology Show. You'll get a custom 3D concept and a fixed, all-inclusive quote within 48 hours — designed to ExCeL's rules, with structural sign-off built into the timeline if your design needs it. We build in-house and install at ExCeL London, so the stand you approve in the rendering is the stand that opens.
We also design and build exhibition stands for other major UK shows — see the full show calendar for retail tech, ecommerce & marketing and beyond, all with the same in-house team, fixed all-in pricing and full venue paperwork.